Yoga-Based Cardiac Rehabilitation Improves Patient-Reported Outcomes After PCI

In a randomized trial of 200 adults after percutaneous coronary intervention, yoga-based cardiac rehabilitation was compared with standard care. At six months, the primary exercise-capacity outcome did not differ significantly, while several patient-reported outcomes favored yoga-based rehabilitation.

Randomized trial enrolled 200 patients after PCI.
Primary exercise-capacity endpoint did not differ significantly.
Quality of life and self-reported activity favored yoga.
Per-protocol exercise result should be interpreted cautiously.

Adults who had recently undergone PCI for acute or chronic coronary syndromes were randomized to a structured yoga-based cardiac rehabilitation program (98 patients) or standard care (102 patients). The 200 participants had a median age of 53 years; 87% were men. The primary endpoint was change in treadmill exercise duration at six months. Secondary outcomes included quality of life, self-reported physical activity, and major adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events.

In the intention-to-treat analysis, median exercise duration was 7 minutes with yoga-based rehabilitation and 6.32 minutes with standard care; the difference was not statistically significant (p=0.449). The yoga group reported better physical, psychological, and environmental quality-of-life domains, lower anxiety and stress scores, and higher physical activity levels at six months. A per-protocol analysis among participants compliant with yoga rehabilitation found a difference in exercise duration (p=0.03).

The findings suggest potential benefits for patient-reported outcomes, but do not show improved exercise capacity in the primary analysis. The per-protocol result may reflect the importance of adherence, but does not replace the intention-to-treat finding. The trial supports considering yoga-based rehabilitation as a complementary approach, not as evidence that it should replace conventional cardiac rehabilitation. The study was prospectively registered (CTRI/2017/07/008951).

In practice

For adults recovering from PCI for acute or chronic coronary syndromes, this randomized trial found better quality-of-life domains, self-reported physical activity, anxiety, and stress outcomes with yoga-based cardiac rehabilitation than with standard care at six months. It did not demonstrate a significant improvement in the primary endpoint of treadmill exercise duration in the intention-to-treat analysis. A favorable exercise-duration finding appeared only in the per-protocol analysis, so the results support yoga as a possible complementary rehabilitation approach but do not establish that it should replace conventional cardiac rehabilitation.

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Source

BMC Medicine: Evaluating the functional impact of yoga-based cardiac rehabilitation following percutaneous coronary intervention ↗

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